ILR through Tier 1 - Please help

Ok thanks OR

Dear Friends and Immigration gurus,

By the grace of God and invaluable help of the experts on this forum, my ILR application was approved at Sheffield PEO.

This wouldn't have been possible without everyone who took time to respond to my queries.

The main thing I was concerned about was discrepancy between dividends declared to HO and HMRC at the time of my tier 1 extension application.

Earlier in Jan my lawyer pointed out this issue and I immediately sent amended SA returns to HMRC and paid due taxes in anticipation.

At PEO, I was asked to fill self employment questionnaire and in the form I declared that I wasnt happy with my self assessment returns filed for that specific year.(I know it was a bold move but I took calculated risks). In the questionnaire they also ask why do you think so and what have you done about it (not exact same wordings but on similar lines). So I mentioned that I recently found out that there was a human error made by my accountant and as soon as I realised I took immediate steps of amending returns and paid all due taxes. Please note even after difference in dividend amounts, my total income declared to HMRC for that specific year was around £43k that made my case strong.

Also note HMRC haven't yet amended my returns as yet as they still have a big back log, however what I did was I submitted my self assessment statement printed off from HMRC's website that showed a credit of the taxes I paid.

In my personal opinion, if your case is strong I.e. there was a genuine error in filing self assessment returns and despite that your overall income declared was more that £35k, then you should be absolutely honest in self employed questionnaire and submit as many supporting documents as possible. Don't think HO are trying to trap us by making us fill self employment declaration, rather it is for the applicant to help the case worker to better understand the case and make an informed decision. However as I said it's only wise to do so if there is a problem with let's say only one tax year out of the last 5 years.

Happy to answer other questions on here.

Thanks again to all who took time out to help me, and I wish applicants all the very best.

God bless!

O_Relly wrote:

ILR_Applicant111 wrote:Hi OR

Thank very much for taking time to respond. Just to add, even though there was a difference of £6k in dividends declared, the total income I declared with a mix of gross dividends, salary and directors allowance was around £43k. Which I think in my view might makes my case strong as I would have still been above the £35k mark. No deceptions here only genuine mistake which I have now rectified.

With regards to HMRC, I have my last 5 years SA302, out of the five years, only 1 year is not up to date since I have now amended my 3 year old returns at the beginning of Jan this year. Timeline from HMRC for getting it amended is end of March 2016. Please also note as per revised SA, I owed £1.8k (not 1k) additional taxes which I paid even before HMRC received my revised self assessment this month, therefore my SA account is currently showing a Credit of £1.8k


So I guess I'm questioning the same as before:

1 should I still go for PEO next week, if they find discrepancy will the CW ask for an explanation? I can then explain and state that the I come declared 3 years ago was still £8k above the £35k threshold.

2. And if I go for PEO, would you advise to include my SA302 as of today I.e one with £6k less dividends.

Kindly help, as you've been in a similar position.

Many many thanks

I think you have a reasonably strong case here that in-spite of the discrepancy you still had £43K, which would prove that there was no deception here.

During my PEO appointment, I had to fill up an additional form if I were every a limited company director during the entire 5 year period, and in that form it had a question such as if my SA and details submitted to HMRC were accurate and if not reasons why. See detailed personal experience post here,

So clearly they provide you with an opportunity to explain all of this.

If I were you, I would go PEO, as I would have an opportunity to personally explain all this. The worst that could happen is that you might not get a decision the same day, as they might take time to verify with HMRC.

Good Luck!

Hi OR,

A big shout out to you for sharing your case!!!
I went for PEO, declared honest answers in self employed form and application was approved! Thanks a ton God bless you!

Glad it all went well. Cheers

Congratulations to you.
Please which of the PSC (PEO) did you attend?

Hi Harry

Thanks mate!! Please read my comments above, it was at Sheffield

Cheers

Oh Sheffield. Thanks.
How was the experience there?
Please do check your PM too !!!

ILR_Applicant111 won't be able to check her private messages until s/he has 30 posts on the forum.

Please post your queries to him/her on the open forum, so that others can learn from the responses too.

Basically just asking about the experience at the PEO !!!!

Hi all,

Please read below experience details:

Appointment time :10am
Entered building : 9:30am
Security clearance: 5 minutes

As soon as security was cleared I was given a token for ILR. We were second applicants who entered the building so they called for our number as soon as I reached waiting area.

Th person who called us was an admin person, she checked paperwork and explained the process, asked us to wait and within 15 minutes gave biometric letter with passports and asked me to fill self employed questionnaire. For details on self employed questionnaire read my comments from yesterday's post.

Biometric called at around 10:40, took 10 minutes in total for both me and dependent. Note that if you have a spouse who changed her name after marriage then do let the person who takes biometric details know their previous name. After bio we were asked to wait.

Around 11 case worker called token number, asked me details of years I was employed, sole trader and company director. Since I was all 3 in last 5 years I had to clearly explain what happened in which year. Luckily CW was very patient and kept taking notes. So I gave her details for employment playslips and contracts, sole trader invoices and nature of work, and then ltd company details like CT600s, VAT returns, certificate of incorporation, invoices for last 4+ years, self assessment returns, business insurance certificates etc. Whole conversation went on for about 20 minutes.

After this CW said you're welcome to step out for 30-45 minutes which we did. Before leaving noticed CW on the phone so guessing she was doing checks.

Came back in around 12:15. Could see CW on phone Around 12:45 saw CW leave for lunch so went up to her to check if all ok. She said everything's fine no concerns and has passed on documentation to admin person to make copies and might take some time. Around 1:45 a different lady ( think she was the admin person) and informed us of the outcome. Original paperwork with letter given then and we were out at 2pm.

In total took good 4+ hours but I noticed some cases took less time. I suspect it's because they were employed therefore less documentation therefore less time required to make copies.
It's not mandatory but you might want to carry photo copies of all original documents so save yourself and CW some time. But it's not mandatory.

From security to the person who gave us the news, I found the staff extremely helpful!! The bigget advice I can give is that be courteous towards everyone you meet as it reflects on your personality, and don't be nervous. If something doesn't make sense to CW then understand they only have 1-2 hours to study your 5 years (or more) history, therefore it becomes your responsibility as an applicant to clarify. Be as clear and honest as possible.

Good luck!

Thank you for the details provided.

One quick question, howmuch was the variation in ur 5 years income? was it above 35k all the consecutive 5 years or was it up and down? thanks

Variation was for only 1 year at the time of extension however that year's income was around £43k as declare to HMRC.

No concerns with any other years.

ILR_Applicant111 wrote:Variation was for only 1 year at the time of extension however that year's income was around £43k as declare to HMRC.

No concerns with any other years.

Sorry my question was that if your income was 35k in every year or was it less in other years?

More than £35k each year

ILR_Applicant111 wrote:More than £35k each year

Hi ILR applicant11,
I read your whole post. A massive congratulation to u. I have some questions to ask.I think I am in trouble.
There are discrepensis between HMRC tax declared and income showed to HO in my first Tier 1 general extension.Upon my new accountants advice i have already submitted tax amendment to HMRC in December. But, still waiting to be updated to their system.

Hypothetically, Say it has been updated, HMRC and I have made an agreement to pay due amount in instalments, Do u think HO will accept that? Or I should clear all the outstanding payments with HMRC beforeI send my application. Also, How long do HMRC take to update tax amendment from 2010-2011?

After my first Tier1 general approval I opened up a company. I declared to HMRC that I am no longer a sole trader and I stopped submitting SA. During my 2nd extension I took salary from the company (Its worth mentioning that I didn't take any dividend from my company). Do u think I should have submitted SA every years. I showed only salaried income on my second extension.

Thank you very much in advance for your help.

Please stop asking tax/HMRC questions on this forum. Find a tax forum and come back here when you have only immigration questions.